KSRTC’s Answer to Modi’s Surgical Strike on Black Money

Introduction

The cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is struggling for past two years to pay the salaries of employees and pensions of retired-hands. The country’s Oil Marketing Companies have told the KSRTC to clear the dues that have accumulated. Yet, the cash-strapped organization has remained afloat due to the liberal help from the State Government and the borrowed money from consortium of banks including Canara Bank and Federal Bank. Against this backdrop, the transport corporation has come out with an out-of-the-box idea to tide over the crisis. It has decided to issue different travel cards for the benefit of its customers. In this blog post, we will look at the new initiative rolled out by the transport authorities for the benefit of travelers in Kerala.

Prepaid Cards

KSRTC has come out with the prepaid cards to help the commuters to travel in a hassle-free way. These cards offer unlimited travel for a month. The customers get the option of renewing the cards by paying the required money after every month. The prepaid cards available are in the range of Rs. 1000 to 5000. These cards can easily be recharged either online or offline by visiting the nearby bus stations. On purchasing the cards, the identity number of the commuters will get printed on the prepaid cards. The commuters need to show both these prepaid cards and their original identity cards issued by the government authorities for the verification by the conductors. KSRTC hopes to bring down the number of incidences of clash involving passengers and conductors with this new system. Moreover, the cash transaction can also be avoided to a possible extent.

Four Types of Prepaid Cards

Depending upon their use, the commuters can buy four types of cards. The details of the card use will also be provided at the time of their purchase. They have to take note of these instructions for the hassle-free travel across the state.

1. 1000-rupees Card: This card is called as Bronze Card. The commuters can use it for travel in ordinary and limited stop services within a district.


2. 1500-rupees Card: It is called as the Silver Card. With this type of card, the commuters can travel anywhere in ordinary and limited stop services in the state.


3. 3000-rupees Card: This type of card is called as Gold Card. It is primarily meant to attract the long-distance travelers. They can travel anywhere in fast and super-fast buses.


4. 5000-rupees Card: This is the most premium card available from KSRTC. Using this, people can travel in all types of buses, including AC Volvo buses. However, KSRTC Scania travelers cannot use any of these cards.